With Motion City Soundtrack jumping ship from Epitaph to Columbia Records, My Dinosaur Life may be their upcoming fourth album, but it's their major label debut.

"It’s been a good year, a good new beginning" sings Pierre on the opening track "Worker Bee". Starting off slow, it gradually builds into a fast paced pop song setting the tone for the rest of the album. "Life Less Ordinary" continues where "Worker Bee" left off with gripping riffs and catchy choruses that make you stop what you’re doing and just start dancing. Listening to this record it is evident that the band has matured along with Pierre’s voice, sounding more distinct, with a smoother texture evident in "Her Words" - the standout track on the album. This is a fun song with amusing lyrics, from "I fell asleep watching Veronica Mars again" to "I even quit smoking weed". Why would anyone quit smoking weed?

"Disappear" is the first single released by the band, a hard rock song filled with angst, where Pierre manages to sound as pissed off as he does positive - "You'll never know how it feels, can you feel it... I am with you til the end". "Delirium" is more traditional sounding, similar to 2005’s Commit This to Memory, followed by "History Lessons", a radio friendly song embedded with Blink-182 influences. "Stand Too Close" opens with acoustic guitars, gradually building tension "when I’ve gone off the wall like Busta Rhymes" then exploding into a pop anthem for a short period, subsequently returning back to where it began.

Listening to "Pulp Fiction" almost makes you think Pierre could have a successful career as a hip hop artist, spitting rhymes that hypnotize. Pierre’s voice is prominently emotive, with his high pitch singing in "Motherfucker" - “You all need to go away, you motherfuckers, you all need to leave me and my homeboys alone”.

Once again working with Mark Hoppus, the influence of Blink-182 can be heard throughout the album especially in "Skin and Bones", a captivating yet haunting song “What if there is no point at all, we just grow up to fade away”. Finally, "The Weekends" is where Motion City Soundtrack’s talent shines - with charming guitar melodies along with crashing waves of beats, creating a powerful pop punk song.

My Dinosaur Life is a solid album, without straying too far from anything they haven’t done before. If you’re a fan of Commit This to Memory, this album is for you, and guaranteed to be the soundtrack to your summer.

REVIEW SCORE: 8/10

My Dinosaur Life is due for release on January 19th, 2010.
The single "Disappear" is out now.